OpenSkies gets OK for Paris, NYC flights

Starting next week, New Yorkers will be able to fly to Paris on a whole new, oddly-named airline.

OpenSkies, the fledgling offshoot of British Airways and the worlds only airline named after an international treaty, received final approval Friday from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly between New York Citys John F. Kennedy International and Paris Orly Airport. Web-ticket sales will begin next week.

The new airline will take advantage of the more relaxed trans-Atlantic flight regulations for which it is named, which were ratified last April by the governments of the United States and the European Union.

It will mark first time that a British carrier will originate and end all of its U.S. flights outside the U.K. Prior to the agreement, European airlines could only fly to the U.S. from their home countries.

The BA subsidiary OpenSkies will launch with just one Boeing 757 aircraft, outfitted for 82 passengers, flying one round-trip per day. OpenSkies will offer 6-foot, lie-flat beds in business class, same as its parent BA. The company declined to reveal fares ahead of the launch. OpenSkies will add a second aircraft to its fleet later this year, according to executives.

OpenSkies gained access to the less-congested, downtown-based Orly Airport by brokering a code-sharing agreement with French carrier LAvion, which currently flies from there to Newark Liberty International. Passengers will be able to mix and match legs of their trip from both New York-area airports.

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